Family, friends demand justice at visitation for Indian couple murdered in Caledon

Jagtar died at the scene. Harbhajan suffered more than 20 gunshot wounds and died in hospital 13 days later. Their daughter has started speaking again, albeit barely, and is still recovering in hospital with critical injuries.

No arrests have been made since the Nov. 20 shooting, which remains shrouded in mystery and has left the family and friends demanding answers from police and varying levels of government.

On Sunday, Harbhajan was finally laid to rest. Relatives, friends and members of the local Sikh community filed into the Brampton Crematorium and Visitation Centre to pay their respects. Her husband had already been cremated days after his death.

“Both of them had loving personalities,” Manjinder Singh, a close friend of their son’s, told the Star at the service.

Singh said the pair treated him like he was family, which meant a lot to the 27-year-old because his parents don’t live in Canada. “ (Harbhajan) would say, ‘If you ever want home-cooked food or if you want any help, let me know.’” Their last meal together was a week before she was shot.

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During the visitation, the couple’s 26-year-old son, Gurdit, and his uncle, who arrived days ago from India, stood in silence next to Harbhajan’s body as relatives and friends paid their respects. Beside the wooden casket was her portrait and birthday: “Feb. 4, 1968 — Dec. 3, 2023.”

Mourners sat cross-legged on the ground, some quietly weeping and others using their hands or scarves to cover their faces. The two-hour visitation ended with attendees laying red and white flower petals over her body.

After the ceremony, Paramvir (Pumma) Bhatti shared how the unsolved crime had destroyed Gurdit and his family. “This is a tragedy he has to bear. No one can take away his pain,” Bhatti said.

Caledon OPP has revealed little about the circumstances surrounding the couple’s murder, but investigators have said they are probing all scenarios, including whether it was a case of mistaken identity.

Speaking publicly for the first time in an interview with the Star last month, Gurdit said he was at work at the time of the shooting. He questioned who could want to kill his parents — a devoted Sikh couple who volunteered in the community — and how Canada could let their murders happen.

“I believed Canada was a safe country,” he said.

According to Sukhwinder (Sunny) Singh, a close friend who lived downstairs, the victims were shot at the rental home on Mayfield Road, near Airport Road, around 11:30 p.m. After hearing a loud noise and then multiple gunshots, Sukhwinder ran upstairs to find a man in a hoodie running out of the house.

Sukhwinder told police he saw the suspect entering a black pickup truck and heading westbound on Mayfield Road. Investigators believe that was the exact vehicle discovered engulfed in flames in a rural area about 20 kilometres away, less than an hour after the shooting.

In an interview last month, the Star counted almost a dozen bullet holes in the doors, floorboard and walls.

On Saturday, a vigil was held outside Brampton city hall to mourn the victims and demand answers. The event drew dozens of people from the local community and politicians, including NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Brampton Deputy Mayor Harkirat Singh.

In particular, relatives and friends say they want clarity as to why Peel Regional Police — who don’t usually have jurisdiction over the Caledon property — showed up at the residence to speak to the parents days before the shooting.

Did Peel police know about a potential threat, Sukhwinder Singh asked.

In a statement Monday, a spokesperson for Peel police said the homicide team did connect with the family on Nov. 16 for “a separate and ongoing investigation.”

“All aspects of this case are part of an active and ongoing investigation with the Ontario Provincial Police, and any further updates will be provided at the appropriate time,” Const. Donna Carlson wrote in an email.

Bhatti was firm in defining what justice looked like to him. He said he wants all levels of government to take action to prevent anything like this from happening again.

“We’re asking this for the community. If the government sets this as an example,” he said, nobody will have to endure the same tragedy.